Wardian Case- easy and fun DIY (plus, meet my snail, Buckeye! ;)

Y'all know that I get a little gardening obsessed. And perhaps a tad cranky during these final months of winter. I was so elated to work  in the garden the whole week of Christmas! Then the cold and rains that followed caused a mighty bout of pouting. So I decided to get off my patootey, and make something I had been thinking of for years- a Wardian Case! Okay, it may be a glorified terrarium, but the old British name sounds so much more regal. Like I might need to put on my daygown and bonnet to tend to it, heh heh...

In reality, it was as simple as digging out the old aquarium we've had for over 20 years. It lives on a shelf in the well house when it's off-duty. This old thing has held successions of fish, then frogs, toads, and land snails. Whenever anyone got a hankering for a critters we just dug it back out. You can find ones this size at Goodwill and thrifts if you keep you eyes open. But you could also do it in a big round fish bowl. They have those at Goodwill all the time for $3-5. Anything clear that allows you to see your goodies, and that you can place a plate or sheet of glass over to maintain the humidity.

I had it easy, because I live on a creek. I just went out back and dug up some creek gravel for the drainage in the bottom, then patted on about an inch or two layer of dirt. A stroll around the back yielded some different kinds of moss and a teeny fern clinging to the edge. (Please note- I am well versed on rare or endangered plants in my areas. And I have been taught the rules on how to harvest. If you go into the country to find your mosses and plants, please ask someone for help with identification so that you don't inadvertently ruin a delicate ecosystem.)

After planting all that, I tucked in some fun rocks that I had gathered from my Pop's land in Oklahoma. Then I went back out to the well house and dug around for the box of trinkets that the boys and I used to use when we made fairy houses. Yes, all my boys are grown and married. But I just don't get rid of things, and you (like my hubby!) see that it pays to save! I found the little set of tools, and a wee wheelbarrow that if I had remembered it would have been in the house already. The wooden arbor if one that my youngest son, Will, made so that he could grow a vine over it as a treat for his toads, Egor and Satchel. I think it is adorable!

When I had everything tucked in the way I liked, it had taken me only half and hour to make. Talk about instant gratification! So then I went and dug up my land snail, Buckeye. The little stinker had been hibernating nearly all winter and I had been a bit cross with her. But I was just sure she would rejoice in her newly expanded kingdom.

I was right. The very next morning I found her hanging from the arbor, getting a "snail's eye view" of her surroundings. When I went to look for her again later (harder than it sounds, snails like to burrow, and they are also easily camouflaged) she was curled in the rock with a hole in it, just like a puppy in a dog bed. Oh my, how my snail-mommy heart swelled with love!

When she woke from her nap she gnawed her carrot stump and made a new hole under the wheelbarrow. It seems she really appreciates the aesthetics of her new home- ha!

And it is fun to see the progression of the case day-by-day. Grass has come up strong and lush, unseen seeds have produces rank sprouts, and the fern is putting on new growth. It isn't quite like getting outside and digging in the dirt, but it is the next best thing! (Can you spot Buckeye in the photo below? She's a tricky little thing ;)

Now I am considering putting my mini orchids in some of our old fish bowls, filling around them with moss, and capping them with vintage dinner plates. I think it will be the perfect humid climate for them. What do you think, Dear Reader? Are you a gardener? Are you anxious to get back into the soil, or do you cherish the winter as a season of rest?